A Caskett Christmas
by castlelover1212
Summary: "Dressed in their cozy winter pajamas, his favorite Christmas jingles filling the loft, the aroma of hot chocolate and cinnamon filling the air, Kate's laughter surrounding him as they decorated sugar cookies together, and cuddled up by the fire..." Castle and Beckett spend their first Christmas together. Fun Casketty holiday fluff. (My first fanfic, please be kind!) Enjoy! :)
1. Christmas Trees

The blizzard was supposed to hit by noon. It was already ten, but Castle knew if they left now they could be back before the worst of it hit.

However, Castle couldn't think about that right now, there was no way this storm was going to ruin their day. They only had one day left until Christmas Eve, and he had some plans of his own.

Today was the day he and Beckett were going to find the perfect Christmas tree and do the last minute preparing. Well, all the preparing actually. The loft still had to be decorated, and all the gifts had yet to be wrapped. There was a lot to do. Alexis and Martha were both out of town at a holiday party thrown by Martha's acting studio. That being the case, Castle knew this would be a perfect excuse to get Beckett in on all of his Christmas hype.

He was already fully dressed, wearing his black winter jacket, grey fuzzy mittens, and a dark blue wool scarf. He was still tired from waking up early, and hadn't even showered yet. He figured he could do it when they got home from the Christmas tree farm.

Leaning against the kitchen counter, finishing up his last sip of coffee, he found himself slipping into a bit of a daydream. He thought about their day to come, him and Kate, decorating the loft with his abundance of festive ornaments. Together, dressed in their cozy winter pajamas, his favorite Christmas jingles filling the loft, the aroma of hot chocolate and cinnamon filling the air, Kate's laughter surrounding him as they decorated sugar cookies together, cuddling up by the fire, the warmth of their bodies-

"Castle! Can you come here for a second?"

His thoughts were interrupted by Kate's voice coming from his bedroom. Already reading her mind, he ran to the door and grabbed her black leather gloves off the front table.

He turned around continued back through his office to find his door just a crack. He pushed it open, and the sight of her immediately caught his breath. They've been together for over a year now, but seeing her standing there near the foot of his bed, smiling and beautiful, it still gave him butterflies. She was wearing dark skinny jeans, a pair of vintage grey snow boots, a thigh-length navy pea coat, and a red scarf. Covered from head to toe, and she still looked gorgeous. She had her hair pulled back into a low slung pony tail, but a few curls still hung out to frame her perfect face.

Her eyes lit up immediately at the sight of him, and he smiled.

"Hey there," he said, closing the space between them, and bringing his hand up to lightly sweep the hair from her cheek.

"Hey yourself," she smiled sweetly, bringing one hand to his shoulder and leaning in slightly to brush their noses together for a split second.

"You called?" He responded after a moment of silence, his hands circling her waste as hers settled lightly around his neck.

"Yeah, have you seen my black gloves? I swore they were in…," she trailed off, looking back over her shoulder at the dresser that was in quite a disarray now.

"These gloves?" He replied with a smirk, pulling one had from behind her back and holding it between the two of them, displaying the leather material she had been hunting for.

She flashed her brilliant white teeth, beaming at him. "What! Castle, where did you even…?"

"The front door. You always leave them there." He snickered a little bit.

She gave him a flirty glare, "Well, I've been looking for them for the past ten minutes!"

"Glad to be of service." He smiled and cocked his head slightly, still grinning at her.

She leaned in, her lips centimeters from his and he could smell her, the sweet scent of her perfume making him a little dizzy.

"Thank you." She whispered, and before he could close the distance with a kiss she was gone, shooting him a "come and get me grin" over her shoulder as she left their bedroom.

He followed her out into the open area of the loft, glancing quickly out the window. The snow was just beginning to fall, but he could tell it was probably bitter cold because it looked like the wind was starting to pick up. He headed back to his office quickly to grab a headband for Kate and his own winter cap out of a drawer in the bookshelf. Rushing back out into the kitchen he found Kate fiddling on her phone.

"You ready?" she smiled, looking up and sliding her phone into her coat pocket.

"All set," he said, tossing her the fleece band he had grabbed for her.

"You're lucky I haven't showered yet" she said coming around the counter to meet him by the front door.

She must be implying the headband would mess up her hair, he thought silently.

"You'll thank me later, it looks freaking freezing outside," he said quickly, grabbing his phone to shove in his pocket.

"I'm sure I will," she said seriously, plucking the keys from the dish on the front table.

He winked at her, and she flashed him a quick smile before heading the door. He followed after her and locked it behind them.

He was right. It is freaking freezing out here. Kate put on her headband the minute they stepped out of the car. He insisted on driving and she was perfectly okay with that, it gave her a chance to navigate exactly where they were going on his GPS. "Elliot's Evergreens" was a small tree farm about 8 miles out of the city. Normally Kate would make a fuss about the distance, but Castle convinced her they had the best and cheapest trees.

He came around to her side of the car just as she was stepping out, and his mittened hand grabbed her gloved one immediately.

"Oh, hey there! 'Writer boy' is ready for some action," she laughed, eyeing the saw he grabbed from the back seat.

He looked down at her grinning from here to ear. God she was beautiful, he thought to himself. Her cheeks were already rosy from the nipping wind and her eyes a popping green, twinkling and brilliant compared to the cloudy skies and the white snow that was falling faster now.

He must have been gaping a little because she winked at him knowingly. With that he couldn't resist, he leaned down and kissed her cheek with a loud smack. "I'm armed and ready!" he said, holding up the sharp back saw, which was thankfully covered with a plastic protector.

"So not funny," she replied but grinned again and tightened her grip on his hand. And with that he led the way.

He was surprised at how fast they found their perfect tree. There was no fuss; they both agreed right away that it was probably the best one that they were going to find. Kate had pointed it out; a beautiful Douglas Fir that stood about 7 feet tall. It had medium length needles, and perfect branches around its entire circumference.

Kate steadied the tree well Castle attacked the base with is manly saw. She giggled as the needles fell onto his face, and he dramatically spat them out of his mouth, smiling at the sound of her laughter. It only took him minutes to cut it down and when it came toppling over Kate caught the head of it before it could hit the frozen ground. She insisted on carrying the front half of it as Castle grabbed the back end, and they headed to the checkout like two little dwarves. Castle started to whistle and they trudged through the snow, which made Kate laugh even harder.

They headed over to the small wooden hut where Castle paid for the tree. The two stood hand and hand under the hut's overhang while the owner Elliot and his only other helper shoved their perfect tree through circle of orange netting. Castle watched it like a little boy, chipper and excited. With the snow falling around them, Kate smiled up at him and leaned against his arm, both of her hands wrapping around his large mittened one. She admired the way the snowflakes landed on his eye lashes, and then drifted down his face when he blinked. She loved the way his lips turned a dark pink when they were cold, and his cheeks were flushed and adorable. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, enjoying the way her body was pressed into the side of his. Her teeth were still chattering she was so cold, but inside she felt warm, and as corny as it sounds she was sure her heart was smiling.

When she opened her eyes Castle was looking down at her. His eyes were a piercing blue, so full of love and desire. He bent down and tenderly pressed his cool lips to the tip of her nose. She smiled and tilted her chin up slightly to meet her lips with his softly in a quick chaste kiss.

Elliot then came up to both of them, gripping their now orange tree upright in his rather large hand.

"All set folks. Now are ya going to need help putting this in a trunk or strappin' it to your car?" he asked, his voice deep yet friendly, a hint of a southern accent seeping through.

"I think we can manage. Thank you so much for your help though." Castle replied with the same tone of kindness.

"Alrighty then, have a safe holiday kids. Thanks so much for stopping by!" Elliot said again, smiling at Castle, then Kate.

"Merry Christmas," Kate finished off sweetly, letting go of Castle to lift the tree from his grasp. Castle grabbed the opposite end and they headed to the car.

Once the tree was strapped in safely, Castle headed over to the passenger's side while Kate took her place in the driver's seat. He cranked up the heat immediately and turned on his favorite station. Dean Martin's version of "Let it Snow" radiated through the speakers, and Castle chucked and looked over at Kate. She was smiling as she started the engine, and backed out of the lot safely. The snow was falling heavy and the wind was picking up. Yep, the blizzard was definitely here, and they were both anxious to get home as soon as possible.


	2. What a Sap!

When Kate pulled into the parking garage she put the car in park and unbuckled herself. Castle was already out of the car unstrapping the tree from the roof. She was still shivering when she came over to meet him on his side, and he glanced over at her.

"Hey you look really cold. Why don't you head up and take your shower now and then I'll get this upstairs," he offered.

"Are you sure, babe?" She kicked herself for letting that one slip out, and tried to ignore the way the pet name made him smirk.

"Yeah, I got it," he reassured her, chuckling at the way she was riling herself up.

"Shut up, Castle," she said poking his side, which just made him laugh harder.

"See ya soon… BABE," he called after her.

But she was already headed inside.

Getting the tree upstairs alone was harder than he thought it was going to be, but he managed to get it onto the elevator and into the loft. He made a mental note to himself to leave some Christmas cookies for the landlord because of all the needles he was probably trailing behind.

He got himself and the tree inside, and he propped it against the wall as he stripped off his coat, hat and gloves. He went over to the coat closet and found the Christmas tree stand, and shoved the tree into the base, using the wall as leverage when he was screwing the trunk into the stand.

He then dragged the tree over to the corner by the fireplace, and made sure it was perfectly straight. If it was crooked at all, he knows Kate would be futzing with it for hours.

Once it was perfectly upright, Castle headed to the hallway closet again and grabbed the huge box of ornaments. He carried it out and sat it on the living room floor at the base of the couch.

He sat down on the couch just as Kate was coming out of his office behind him. He looked back at her and was relieved to see the cold had left her, and she looked warm and toasty.

She was wearing a fitted navy NYPD long-sleeve that showed of her slender figure, and a pair of black leggings. Her feet were cozy in some festive fuzzy socks Castle had bought for her. They had moose wearing Santa hats, and he thought they would be more like a gag gift, but she took a surprising liking to them. Her dark brown hair was pulled back from her face and up into a messy bun, leaving the skin of her neck, which Castle seemed to love, exposed and glowing.

Castle got up from the couch and met her halfway, both ending up in front of the island in the kitchen. She climbed up on one of the high bar stools and smiled over at him. He closed the distance between them, stepping into the vee of her legs.

Without words he bent down and kissed her neck, suckling a little bit and breathing in the scent of her. He loved the way her skin tasted right after she had showered, fruity and sweet. He pulled a little between his teeth, nipping a softly, and then caressing it with his tongue. Humming contently, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his body tighter to hers.

"Hey you," murmured, shifting his head and repeated his lavishing to the opposite side of her neck; kissing and nipping at her pulse, and then soothing the sting with his tongue again.

"Mmm, Castle," she sighed, "you smell like pine tree."

He pulled away from her neck and met her sparkling eyes. She smiled at him sweetly, and he kissed her cheek softly before responding.

"Yeah, well I didn't get a chance to shower like you," he said softly, and he pulled a hand away to run it through his hair.

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I like the smell of pine tree," she paused for a moment, touching the side of his face gently. "But um, why don't you go do that, you're a little sticky from the sap."

"Now, see…" he whispered leaning close, his lips at her ear, taking her lobe between his lips, sucking once it before letting it go "…I thought you would like me sticky, Detective Beckett."

"Castle!" she gasped, her face buried in his neck, "go take a showerrrr…" she drew out the word embarrassed.

"You sure about that? I could just stay here and ravish you some more."

She pinched his side and he yelped. "I'm positive. Take a shower."

He laughed and pulled away, scurrying past her as she hopped off the stool to smack his butt playfully. He grabbed her by the wrist, laughing as she swung around him because of the force of his pull.

He let her wrist go and she went spiraling towards the kitchen.

"I'm gonna make you some lunch, so hurry up!" she called after him, watching as he disappeared into the bedroom humming what sounded like "Sleigh Ride". She smiled to herself, biting her bottom lip, and headed over to the fridge.


	3. Castle's Christmas Coffee

Once they were finished with lunch, just some simple yet delicious veggie wraps Kate threw together; Castle put some boiling water on the stove to make some cocoa. He picked up a tin of Hazelnut mocha mix the other day at the store that he knew Kate would love. He stirred together the powder and hot water and brought a mug over to Kate who was sitting over by the window sill.

She stood up and he handed her the mug smiling. "Here, try this."

She gave him a questioning look before taking it, her hand brushing his in the exchange.

She inhaled the deep aroma coming off the steaming cup and closed her eyes smiling.

"Castle, is this mocha?" she said as she opened her eyes slowly, looking up at him.

"Try it now, thank me later," he replied. She turned away from him towards the window, which was now clouded by the storm. She took a long slow sip from the cup and hummed with contentment.

"Oh my gosh, Castle. This is amazing!" she said quietly, leaning back against his chest, as he wrapped his arms low around her waist.

"I thought you might like it," he said, bending forward slightly to rest his chin on her shoulder, pleased with her reaction.

"I love it." She said smiling, and knocked her head lightly against his.

She then turned in his arms and brought the mug to her mouth, locking her eyes with his as she took another slow sip. He watched her seriously, holding her steady gaze.

After taking a long sip, she set the mug down on the window sill next to them.

"Thank you," she said leaning into him, her arms curling around his neck, her jade eyes meeting his with a burning fire behind them.

"Always," he whispered, tilting his head to meet her lips.

He greeted her softly, slowly pressing his closed lips to hers, caressing her momentarily before pulling her bottom lip between his own. He sucked at it softly, and she let out a quiet moan.

Pulling back she met his dazzling blue eyes, full of love, only for her.

"At this rate we're not going to get anything done." He said, kissing her lips lightly again, then shifting to run his them lightly up the line of her jaw to her hairline and back down.

"It's okay, we have the whole day. What's a few minutes?" she sighed, tightening her arms around his neck before pulling back to meet his azure eyes again, sinking in the depths of them.

"You are so beautiful." he whispered, eyes flitting to her mouth then back to her sparkling emerald gaze.

"I'm happy." She whispered back, her forehead resting against his.

"Your happiness is beautiful," he hummed, staring into her intensely.

She broke off their moment and smiled, leaned in close and teased him quickly with the tip of her tongue, darting it out to flick his upper lip.

He ducked down and placed a loud raspberry to column of her neck, chuckling as she squirmed, the song of her laughter ringing in his ears. He tightened his grip around her waist, lifting her off the ground slightly for a second before bringing his hands to both sides of her waist and squeezing.

"Castle! That tickles!" she squeaked, still laughing, "Come on, stop! We need to get the decorations up," she got out, unable to control her own giggling.

"Ugh, fine," he released her and her laughter died down. "Oh, by the way. You're adorable." he finished. She smiled and he kissed the tip of her nose quickly before scampering off like a little boy to find the ornaments.


	4. Traditions

After dinner, Castle and Beckett had spent the early evening making sugar cookies for his neighbors and for their friends at the 12th. Kate figured they could stop by and drop them off at the precinct sometime tomorrow for their friends who were stuck working the day after Christmas.

He loved the way she looked standing in his brightly lit, state-of-the-art kitchen. Her long shiny hair was dry now, spilling down in perfect thick locks on her shoulders. Castle had persuaded her putting on one of his green holiday aprons with a cute gingerbread. He was wearing his very similar apron with a candy cane on the front. He knew wearing his own apron was cheesy, but couldn't help love how cute, and utterly domestic they both looked. It didn't help that he had his Christmas CD playing in the kitchen, and they were both dancing around each other singing along with the carols.

Castle took note of the way Kate could not stop smiling, even when he was (purposely) driving her crazy. He kept eating the cookie dough, and fooling around with the frosting, licking it from his fingers like a 6 year old.

"Castle! That is so gross, you have to stop doing that," she scolded him, turning to place the next batch in the oven.

He was right in front of her when she spun back around, grinning at her as he licked a glob of red frosting of his pointer finger, making a point to draw out the process. His pink tongue came out and swirled around his digit for far too long before disappearing into his perfect mouth.

She stood there with both hands on her hips looking up at him, trying hard to hide her emotions; those being equally annoyed and aroused by his youthful behavior.

He turned his torso around, his lower body still inches from her, and dipped his pinky back into the round container, scooping the sugary goodness onto his finger. He turned towards her again and brought his hand in between them, watching her as she watched his hand.

"Castle, what are you doing," she asked knowingly, leaning away from him slightly. He grabbed her waist with his other, non-frosting coated hand, and tugged her body flush with his.

"Come on Kate, try it. You know you want to" he tossed back in a low, sensual voice.

She gave in, smiling deviously, and looking up at him through her long dark lashes. Raising an eyebrow he wiggled his red pinky in front of her face, and she took it, wrapping her entire mouth around his finger, circling it with her tongue. She slowly moved her mouth up the length of his pinky, taking all the frosting with her.

"Mmm. Thank you," she cooed, licking her lips seductively.

He inhaled deeply. "You are so evil, Kate Beckett." he hissed through his teeth.

"Oh, two can play at that game Castle," she said, moving around him to pinch his ass.

He smirked at her, and headed over to the counter to wash his hands before rolling out more dough.

"So what kind of Christmas traditions did little Kate Beckett have?" he asked turning down the music as she went around the island and perched on one of the bar stools. She leaned against the counter top, and watched him as he grabbed the rolling pin and started to flatten the dough.

"Ohh, delving into my personal life, now are we Castle?" she said flirtatiously, and gave him a closed lipped smile when he looked up at her.

"First of all, I am your personal life babe." He smiled when she winced at the name.

"Secondly, I'm curious. I want this Christmas to be special for you, and I realized we are doing all of my traditions. What about some of yours?" he questioned her, glancing down as he found the cookie cutter and started forming little bells out of the dough and placing them on the pan.

"Honestly, Castle. My Christmases were not all fun and games. My mom was usually working late Christmas Eve, so my dad and I were usually left to try and find something to do. My dad started drinking about two years before my mom died so things were not always…"

She paused fidgeting with her hands "…magical, like this." She met his eyes, and smiled weakly.

Kate started nervously toying with the edge of the napkin sitting on the counter as Castle put the cookie sheet into the oven and set the timer. Then he came around and sat on a bar stool next to her, taking her grip from the napkin and lacing their fingers together.

She looked down at the joined hands, continuing on. "The only special Christmas I can remember is the one we had the year before my mom died." She lifted her head looking past him, no longer able to hold his loving gaze. She stared out the window at the snow falling hard, trying to keep herself together to share this part of her with him.

"You saw those pictures of us. Remember? That was the year. We had that beautiful Christmas tree my mom and I decorated together in the morning. Then the two of us went ice skating at Rockefeller Center that afternoon. I had never been, and I remember my mom would just crack up every time I fell down." Kate laughed softly at the memory.

"People probably thought she was awful for laughing at her own daughter. That was sort of her outlook on life though Castle, whenever she fell, she would just laugh it off, and that's what helped her get back up..." she trailed off, looking back at him.

He smiled, encouraging her to continue.

"After we were done, we went over to that little café across the street, and we sat there talking, laughing, drinking cocoa. She told me all about her childhood Christmas traditions, and…" Kate stopped and let out a small giggle, "We must have been talking for hours Castle, because when we left it was dark outside, and freezing cold. I remember coming home that night, and my dad was sitting on the couch reading a magazine, and there were three gifts sitting out on the table in front of him. One was marked for my mom, one said Katie, and the last one just said "For Us." He told us to come in and open them, so we did. He had bought my mom this lovely scarf. It was a deep shade of purple, her favorite color, and had shiny grays and blues weaved through it. Her face just lit up. She looked so gorgeous and happy, always a smile on her face. She was so beautiful. Then the gift he had for us… we unwrapped it together, and it was the movie "White Christmas."

Kate looked up at Castle and gave him a close lipped smiled. "The three of us cuddled up on the couch with blankets and more cocoa and watched it that night. I remember my mom would start singing along with it at the end. Her voice was amazing, so soft and angelic," Kate paused for a minute and closed her eyes.

She started singing, quietly but strong…

"_May your days be merry and bright…_

_ and may all…_

_your Christmases_…"

With her eyes still closed, she smiled as a tear trickled down her smooth cheek.

"…be white…" she whispered.

"Kate…" he whispered, bringing his thumb to sweep lightly across her cheek, catching the tear.

She opened her eyes, and held his gaze for a minute.

She continued, her voice hoarse, "That was our last Christmas all together," she cleared her throat, "but Castle, it was so special, so perfect. It was the one day my mom forgot about work, my dad forgot about alcohol. All of our Christmases after that really weren't much of anything. I usually spent Christmas Eve at a friend's house or alone in my room watching movies or doing something to distract myself, tried to forget about the memories. Then my dad started leaving every Christmas. He would go out to a bar, or leave to go "Go see a friend" whatever that meant." She stopped, as he wiped more tears away from her face, brushing her hair back, locking his eyes with hers.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, softly rubbing her cheek with the back of his hand. "I wish I could give you that special night. I wish I could go back and erase the loneliness, the hurt. Go back and give you something to smile about. Kate, I feel so bad that-"

"Rick," she said softly, cutting him off, bringing a finger to his lips. "You have nothing to apologize for."

He kissed her finger. "But everything was so perfect for you…then it was all taken from you…you didn't deserve that… and then your dad… and I can't believe he just left you like that…so young" he sighed.

"I wasn't _that_ young…" she corrected him.

"You were _still_ young, Kate" he said again.

"Castle…come here." she said, leaving her place at the bar stool, grabbing one of his hand and leading him over to the couch, releasing him to sat down.

He sat down, turning slightly to face her as and she pulled her legs under herself resting her knee on his thigh, giving her leverage to lean into him.

"Look," she said, returning her gaze to him, her eyes softer now, holding an emotion Castle couldn't quite put his finger on.

"I didn't tell you that story to make you feel bad for me-

- well I do, Kate" he pressed, lacing their fingers together again, now avoiding her eyes.

"I don't want you to. Castle, this is my way of thanking you."

She pulled her free hand out between them and lifted his chin up lightly with the crook of her index finger, his eyes coming back to hers. She could see the sadness they held with the darker shade of blue.

"Thanking me…?" he questioned softly, his eyes darting down again as he traced the veins of her wrist with the pad of his pointer finger.

She smiled at him, now cupping his check in her palm, running her thumb gently over the soft skin there, forcing his eyes to lock with hers.

"Thanking you, for giving me magic again, Castle. For being here, making me laugh, and sing and dance. Making me feel loved, making this feel..." she paused to smile at him "making this feel like home. You have helped me erase the bad memories and filled them with amazing ones. And that means so much to me." She brought her palm down the side of his face and traced the line of his jaw with her finger.

She watched his eyes brighten, and he leaned in. "You know I would do anything for you, Kate," he said, taking her hand from the side of his face and squeezing it before letting it go. He then brought his finger up to trace the curve of her lips.

"I know you would. You proved that when you waited four years for me," she replied, his finger still light as a feather on her lips, moving onto her check tracing random designs.

"God, you were so worth the wait," he said quietly, for only the two of them to hear. He tucked a curl behind her ear, before resting his hand on her thigh.

They stared into each other's eyes for a few long minutes, getting lost. Spilling their love, secrets, happiness, all of it with no words.

"I love you Kate Beckett." he said finally, leaning closer and still holding her gaze.

She leaned in further, and spoke against his lips.

"I love you too, Richard Castle"

He smiled back at her, his heart burning, eyes ablaze, so blue they caught her breath.

"Kiss me…" she whispered, glancing down to his lips then back up to his fixed gaze.

He leaned forward into her, tilted his head slightly, and parted his lips. Eyes closed, they breathed into each other for a few seconds before connecting, weaving their lips together softly. After a few seconds he deepened the kiss, added more urgency, more desire. She parted more as his tongue slipped against and through her lips. He pushed it on into her mouth, searching her out slowly. When he found her they slid against each other softly. He could taste her happiness; he was sinking in the depths of it. She wrapped her hand around the back of his neck securing him to her, running her fingers through the soft hair there. She ducked from his lips quickly to move to the soft skin under his jaw. She kissed it and sucked it softly before moving up and meeting his lips again. He worshiped every inch of her mouth. He massaged her with his tongue, tracing the ridges her teeth, then her soft upper lip, then her supple bottom lip, sucking gently on every surface of her sweet tasting mouth-

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP

He pulled away startled.

"Damn. The cookies." she said blushing, nuzzling her nose into his neck.

"Oh, right!" Laughing he got up, and bent down to press a chaste kiss to her forehead before heading back over to the kitchen to retrieve their holiday snacks.


	5. Her Favorite Ornament

While he was finishing up frosting the cookies, she sat on the couch reading his latest manuscript for "The Heat of the Holiday." He enjoyed hearing her distant laughter, or looking over and catching her in a moment completely consumed by the story. Once she finished, she set the huge stack of paper down on the coffee table and her eyes wondered over to him.

She smiled at the way he was so focused on the cookie designing that he didn't even see her leering after him.

"Castle," she said softly, but loud enough for him to here. "That was touching, really."

"You didn't think it was too-"

"-corny? It was somewhat… cliché, but just the right amount to still make it…sweet, you know?" she smiled shyly, biting at the tip of her pinky nail.

"You have become such a romantic, Kate Beckett" he said, with a wink. He then tilted the tray of intricately decorated bells to show her, "So! What do you think?"

She got up to meet him in the kitchen, leaning over his shoulder to admire his work while he watched her. "Wow Castle, who knew you were so good at culinary artwork, my goodness!"

"I know right!" he grinned at her, and then quickly cleared his throat. He turned toward her, his smile faded and his face became more serious. "Oh hey, I was wondering something while you were reading…"

She cocked her head to the side, suddenly nervous, "Yeah?" she said, biting down on her bottom lip.

He took his finger and placed it on her chin, pulling downward softly until the lip was released from her gnawing teeth before continuing. "Nothing bad, I was just wondering, you said your dad had three gifts, one for your mom, one for the both of you, and one marked Katie…"

"Mmm-hmm… You want to know what he got me." she stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I'm curious, but I get if it's private, you don't have to tell me." He said holding his hands up as if to surrender, hoping he wasn't prying. He made it a point not to touch her, so she wouldn't feel too pressured.

"Of course I'll tell you," she said in a caring voice he wasn't quite used to yet, she ran a nail vertically up the center of his chest "better yet, I'll show you." she finished with a light poke to his sternum. She then took his hand and led him towards the front door.

"Oh! Was it a pony? Are we going to a stable?!" he said, suddenly giddy that she didn't feel violated by his curiosity.

"Yes, Castle, "she said sarcastically, "when we came home that night my dad had a pony sitting on the edge of the coffee table, but we just ignored it so my mom could unwrap her scarf."

"Makes sense to me." he said, playing along as she let go of his hand to reach down into the small black tote bag she left by the front door.

"Actually, he made something for me," she informed him, standing up to hand him a cylindrical box the size of a soup can. He slowly lifted the lid, and pulled out a ball of tissue paper, as she continued on.

"He had this amazing talent of shaping glass; he still does it for fun, once and a while. It was really the only hobby he didn't give up after my mom died. So he made this for me…" she trailed of as Castle revealed the clear glass ornament. It was sparkled with gold and silver painted ribbons around the top and bottom, and the glass was somewhat carnivalized, so it shimmered rainbow in the light.

"Wow, this is unbelievable! He made this?" Castle said stunned.

"Mmm," she agreed, "And he engraved it to," she said taking it from him so she could spin it to show him the other side.

Sure enough, inscribed perfectly in cursive it read:

_To my strong, beautiful Katie, _

_ Merry Christmas _

"Isn't it wonderful?" Kate said, admiring the ornament herself.

"It is. Would you like to put it on the tree? Or well, that might not be a good idea…" he continued on, while she ignored him, still staring at the ornament.

He kept thinking out loud anyway, "Or no, we need hang it somewhere special?" He stopped and rubbed his chin for a minute, contemplating, walking towards the living room.

Finally he remembered, "Oh! I have this ornament hanger mother gave to me a couple years back! That would be perfect!"

"Let me grab that." He finished, heading over to the ornament bin and pulling out a simple gold piece of metal that had a square base and a curled end, perfect to hang one ornament. "Perfect," he said to himself, looking back over to where she was standing, still oblivious to the entire past three minutes.

"Kate?" he said, noticing she was still staring at the ornament.

She looked up at him, and he grinned holding up the metal stand, displaying it for her.

"Castle, that's perfect." She said, now out of her trance and heading over to him holding the ornament in one hand.

"My words exactly," he agreed, taking her other hand and leading her over to the mantle above the fireplace. He set the stand down, and she looped the ornament head on the hook.

"You know," he said, as watched her adjust the stand, "I really shouldn't use the word perfect anymore."

"Why's that?" she asked, turning back to him, her hands coming around his neck, as his circle her waist pulling her close.

"Because you're the only "Perfect" nothing else can even attempt to compete."

She sighed heavily, giving him a doubting look, "Castle, that's sweet, but I am not perfect."

"You're pretty damn close, Kate." He replied, hugging her tighter to his chest, their faces inches apart now…

She licked her bottom lip smiling, "Oh, but I do have one competitor Castle, you forgot about that." She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Hmm, is that so?" he questioned, a slight smiling forming on his lips.

"Yeah, I mean, Esposito _is_ pretty awesome…" she chuckled softly as she closed their hug, her cheek coming to rest on his shoulder, nose at his neck.

"Katherine Beckett, you are such a tease." He said, grinning from ear to ear, pulling her close and swaying back and forth slightly.

"You just keep pitching them to me, Castle" she flirted, her warm breath washing over his neck.

"And you keep knocking them out of the park, babe." He finished, squeezing her a little too tight, as if that will make up for what he just called her.

She unwraps herself from him, and pokes a finger at his chest. "You," she starts, speaking slowly but still teasing, "Need to stop…calling me babe."

"Yes, Detective Beckett." He replied with a handsomely devious smirk.


End file.
